THE WESLEYAN (ECUMENICAL CONFERENCE.
THE sessions of the Wesleyan (Ecumenical Conference which have been held in London during the past fortnight cannot but awaken the greatest possible interest in all who care for the religious progress and development of the Anglo-Saxon race. Wesleyanism has certain special features of great moment,—features which give it. a character of its own and render its position unique among the Protestant Nonconformist Churches. In the firat place, the Wesleyan Church is one of the chief connecting links of the Anglo-Saxon race. Wherever the English language is spoken, whether under the Union Jack or the Stars and Stripes, there are to be found the followers of John Wesley. Thus nowhere are the bonds that connect us with the United States stronger than among the Wesleyans, and in the Conference now sitting in London we may witness an outward and visible sign of the brotherhood of • the English-speaking kin. But apart from the nexus with America formed by Wesley- anism, that Church is of interest as essentially an Imperial body: There is not a Colony in the gmpire in which: the Wesleyans are not strongly represented, and we doubt if any British force in the last hundred years has fought in any part of the world without containing a proport. of Wesleyan soldiers. As an example of the Iiiiee.L°4 character of Wesleyanism we may note the attitude it ti„-- Wesleyans during the war. The members of the re; stay-at-home Nonconformist Churches were often deludedi; the talk about the Outlanders being a mass of internationi Jews who worshipped no God but gold, and could not even speak the English language. The Wesleyans, however, not to be bemused by .the rhetoric of the Pro-Boers, C„ they knew that there were flourishing societies of thei; own people in the Transvaal. and that one of their own members died a martyr because of the hostilityf thou ese who carried on the illicit liquor traffic.
Another most interesting point connected with the Wes. leyan Church is the truly democratic spirit that pervade, it. Wesleyans indulge very little in the cant of democracy, and make no parade of windy phrases about liberiv and equality, but the true democratic spirit is there, and though no Church can altogether escape the charge of being a respecter of persons, no Church is, in truth, less open to the charge than that of John Wesley. The system of the Society distinctly favours the recognition of spiritual 'gifts in the poorest and humblest, and the making use of those gifts in the service of God. And not only is Wesleyanism democratic in its essential and root con. stitution—it is oligarchic, and wisely so, in its central organisation—but Wesleyanism has a very real claim to be called the Church of the poor. Those who have only seen Wesleyanism in towns, and, where the con- gregations all belong to the middle and upper middle class, may not realise this. Those, however, who have studied the working of the Society in poor country parishes and in mining villages where there is hardly a member with more than 30s. a week, will realise the truth of our assertion. The Roman Church has been called the Church of the poor, but that title of honour belongs with quite as much, if not with a better, right to the Wesleyan body. There is yet another aspect of Wesleyanism which deserves to be noted, and for which it deserves our special respect. The Wesleyans are, and always have been, among the greatest and best of educators, and, what is more, of educators of the spirit. It has often been noted what the study of theology and disputations on doctrine have done for the Scotch intelligence. Such studies have awakened and stimulated the mind of the people. Wesleyanism has done a similar work in England. It is almost impossible to find an active Wesleyan, however humble his calling in life, who has not a clear and receptive mind, and has not had. his whole intelligence quickened through his religion. Every Wesleyan chapel in effect provides a school for adults by means of the class meeting, and in the Sunday-school, always a great feature of Wesleyan religious life, the whole Society is kept in touch with educational work. No doubt the Wesleyan Church, like every other religious body, is open to special dangers of its own, and has suffered from them in the pant and will again. But though we realise this fully and do not desire to flatter the Wesleyans, we cannot but note that, taken as a whole, the Wesleyans show a spiritual temper which is often worthy of all admiration. They may not have that spirit of comprehension which is the special glory and power of the Anglican Church, but they have escaped a certain narrow. ness and hardness which has marked some of the Noncon- formist Churches. Wesley seems, indeed, to have been able to impress upon his often rude and unlettered followers from the very beginning something of his own fine temperament. Wesley, whatever may have been the defects of his natural temperament, was always and at all times a scholar and a gentleman, and the essentials of those characteristics have clang to the body he founded. A temper of sweetness and light, of wideness and yet earnestness, such as must always mark the scholar and the gentleman, belongs to the best Wesleyans, and to the Society as a whole. One of the most perfect and absolute gentlemen, not merely in heart, but in his whole aspect and rummer, that the present writer has ever blown was a, Wesleyan local preacher. As a working miner he had little opportunity to show the spirit of a scholar directly, but yet it was exhibited in his moderation of tone in discussion, in his thoughtfulness, and in the_ lack of anS- thing approaching the intellectual arrogance of the hall: instructed man who lives habitually with the unlearned._ It was not without result that Wesleyanism had its
a birth in Oxford, and we hope that some day vireslevanism may recognise and record what it owes to Oxford, and what also Oxford owes to it, by following the example set by Mansfield College and Manchester New College, and founding at Oxford a Wesley College. Could a quarter of the Killion Guinea Fund be better disposed of than by such a foundation ?
It is most natural that the Session of the Con- ference should have suggested to many minds the desire for a reunion between the English Church and the Wesleyans. Wesley was a Churchman, and did not differ in doctrine from the Church of England, and his followers would find no doctrinal impediment to re- union. So argue many excellent people ; but though we admit the truth of the statement that there is no doctrinal impediment to reunion, we by no means feel certain that reunion would be in the interest of the Church of England or of Christianity as a whole. If it is true, as we most fervently believe, that "God 'fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world," then we need have no anxiety on the question of reunion. It may be that at some *future time and a generation or two hence religious forces that can now best be employed in isolation will have worked themselves out, and the need for a separate appeal and a separate organi- sation will have ceased to exist. If and when that is so Wesleyanism will come to an end as a separate organisation, and can be reabsorbed into the Church from whence it came. It is clear, however, that at this moment the beacon-fire lighted by Wesley has by no means burnt itself out. Wesleyanism is more, not less, vigorous than it was, and has before it fields of activity which are especially its own. God has spoken through Wesleyanism at sundry times and in divers places, and is speaking yet, and we have no cause and no right to regret Wesleyan activity and vitality, but rather great cause to glory in it and be thankful for it. Truly England's debt to Wesleyanism is a great one, not merely spiritually and morally, but even politically,—for it was well said that but for John Wesley we should hardly have escaped the contagion of the French Revolu- tion. In the present, and in the future as in the past, we may thank God for John Wesley.
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